The Final Count down

06h00 – 10h00: I can not really say what time I awoke on Saturday morning as like before any cup final I toss and turn all night long, one can not deny the fact that no matter how many cup finals you play in you still get butterflies the night before. I know Pitso Mosimane has said that he is not excited by coming into his sixth cup final in three years; I am not like him and am very excited about this evening’s game. Breakfast happens at some time around eight o’ clock and things are quiet at the break fast table this morning, every one is focused on the game, there is no time for chit chat at the moment.

10h00 – 11h00: We assemble at ten in the hotel lobby and drive off for a short limbering up session, which is just for us to further warm up and get the blood circulating and such things. Again not much is said on the bus to and from the training ground, the coach does have a word with players on an individual basis as he and I also has a few tips me for, basically he tells me to keep things tidy at the back and that he wants the same kind of show from me that he saw during the ABSA Cup Final.

11h00 – 14h00: Upon our return to the hotel there is a quick lunch for us and we are then given information as to what time is our pre – match meal and the pre match team talk as well as when we will be departing for the stadium. As is customary before a game of this magnitude one needs to be well rested so straight after lunch is over I head for the sack, in order to keep my mind at ease and be ready for Katlego Mashego and company.

14h00 – 16h15: I take a nap which last just over two hours and is well rested when we reassemble for the pre – match meal.

16h15 – 18h30: Our pre match meal is usually organized by the medical guys who inform the hotel on what needs to be prepared for us, basically it is a balanced meal to give us the necessary boost to get through the game with out any problems. Once the pre match meal has concluded it’s in the elevator up to the ninth floor of the hotel, where the coach is waiting for us to dish out tactics and other instructions to the guys.

There is always a nervous air of anticipation right before the team talk; this is also the forum where the coach informs us as to who will be starting in the game. Once we are all there the coach reads out the names of those who will be starting the game, thankfully for me I am in the team.

There are a couple of shocks which draws a number of the guys to look bewilderedly at each other, I see the disappointment etched on the faces of a number of the guys who had expected to have played this game. I will admit that the coach did surprise me with his inclusion of Rotson Kilambe in the starting line up and his omission of David Obua, also made me take a step back. The meeting lasts about forty minutes and after the team is announced, the rest of the team talk is all about tactics and clarifying various guys’ roles.

18h30 – 20h10: We depart for the stadium and head out of Umhlanga towards Durban, as we near the Stadium I get a glimpse of the bright light being emitted from the ABSA Stadium from where I am sitting in the bus, I can see the top part of the stadium filling up.

As we draw closer to the stadium you get to see the supporters heading for the game, and it begins to dawn upon you that in a couple of hours you will be playing in a Cup Final, where the joy or despair of so many supporters lies on your shoulders.

Once inside the Stadium we use the same dressing room we did before the ABSA Cup Final in May, once the formalities are over and the checking of the team registrations is done. I head out with the goalkeeper coach Rainer Dinkelacker and the substitute goalkeeper Ryan Wuest, as we are the first ones out we are met a deafening sound. After a brief acknowledgement of the crowd we begin our warm up routines, every thing goes well and I have a good feeling about the game.

20h10 – 20h55: The game begins and the opening twenty minutes of the ABSA Cup begin to play in my mind, when Pirates dominated play and had a number of chances to have buried us early in the first half. It all comes rushing back to me when Dane Klate breaks through on goal in the 4th minute, luckily enough he drags his shot wide although I do feel that I had it covered.

As the half grows older SuperSport have a few more chances most notable of all, is the one they have on the stroke of half time when Teko Modise makes me work over time. First he takes a snap shot from an acute angle which forces me into evasive action, from the resulting corner we do not clear the ball away and the lose ball falls again to Modise. He takes a karate kick swipe at goal, with a whole lot of bodies in front of me my view of the ball is obscured, at the right moment Shaun Bartlett makes way and I am able to pick up the ball.

21h10 – 21h55: After a half time rollicking from the coach we come out of the dressing room fired up and ready to go for the second period, if SuperSport were dominant in the first half we stamped our authority on the second period early on. From the start we began knocking the ball around more easily and were just moving into spaces and picking up the lose balls as well as closed them down with out a problem.

Our midfield is beginning to take a strangle hold on the game and in particular Gert Schalkwyk and Scara who on a number of occasions early in the second half split SuperSport down the middle. Then the turning point in the game as just past the hour mark, Scar skips past three SuperSport players and gets a ball to Rotson Kilambe, from where I am standing manages to get the ball over the line.

We lead and hold onto it till the final whistle, although we could have scored another goal, the solitary strike is enough for us to win the game. In the second half of the game I really did not have much work to do and it was nice to win the SAA Supa8 Cup, defeating SuperSport was especially sweet since it was them who defeated us in the 2004 Supa8 Final.

22h00 – Till very, very early Sunday morning: As is expected after such a memorable Cup Final victory the guys celebrate the win in style, for me personally it is wonderful to have won the Supa8 title as it is the only domestic cup I have not as yet won. To all of the Chiefs supporters it was wonderful to have shared the days leading up to the SAA Supa8 Final with you, thanks for all the support and hopefully we will be able to do this again in December when we gather for the Telkom Cup Final. Until then all the best from Rowen Fernandez.